Watch Me
by WhateverMary13
Summary: After the events of Children of Earth Jack Harkness took to the sky. After a run in with space rascal John Hart, Jack sets out on a quest to find the Doctor and bring Ianto back, but maybe it's not Ianto who needs saving. Jack/Ianto
1. Prologue

Jack materialized in the cargo bay of the Cold Fusion Cruiser he had hitchhiked his way onto. He looked blandly around the battered hold carefully taking in potential hiding places and escape routes but he did so with none of his previous swashbuckling excitement. He felt as if his limbs had all been weighted down and it took extreme physical and mental strength to take every step.

He trailed his fingers across the cold metal of the passage way pressing them harder and harder against the wall in an attempt to feel the slightest bump and crevice. His hand caught on a rusty piece jutting out halfway down the narrow corridor and the nerves that registered that he had sliced open the palm of his hand must have alerted the pain center of the brain, but his deadened mind chose not to respond. He felt nothing as blood dripped down the endless life line on his hand and he still felt nothing as his hand stitched itself back together.

A pipe ahead of him let out a nasty screech and with it a gigantic puff of auxiliary smoke. A shadowy form appeared in the midst of the billowing gas. Jack stopped where he was and shook the wet drops of blood onto the ground idly as he waiting for the figure to approach. He casually buffered his fingernails on his great coat and then examined them for dirt; noting that all that remained from the injury to his hand was a faint smudge of blood.

"Welcome aboard _The Peregrine_," A male voice called out as its owner approached, "My name is Boris Kevorkian. I'm second in command here on _The Peregrine_."

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack replied simply because he couldn't be bothered to create a new identity yet. It was convenient to keep the name, since outside of Earth nobody knew it and he was used to responding to it, and so he did.

"Alright then Captain Jack: Follow me up to the bridge My Captain wishes a word with you," Boris told him and gestured back the way he came. Jack nodded his assent and followed Boris up a tightly wound staircase and down hallways full of pipes and wires. They stopped at a hyper-enforced iron door and Boris punched in a code on the bright green panel next to the door.

The pair emerged in an almost empty room. Empty except for an ordinary looking girl with curly brown hair separated into pigtails. Her baggy trousers were held up by suspenders not unlike Jack's own and she had black oil spread across her face and simple white shirt along with various other stains. She looked up curiously and said cheerfully: "We've had a lot of stowaways but never one so handsome."

"His name's Jack Harkness, Captain." Boris stated formally. Jack at first assumed that Boris was stating his title of Captain but when he turned and saw Boris standing at attention it became clear.

"Thank you Boris," The woman replied, "So tell me Jack Harkness –"

"Captain," Jack inserted out of habit.

She paused and her lip quirked up, "No need for formalities Jack."

Jack smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. Boris took a seat next to the woman and stage whispered: "I think he meant he's a Captain, Captain."

"Oh, really?" The lady asked in mock surprise, "Oh well in that case I will point out that the position of Captain on this ship is filled, by me, so as long as you are aboard my ship you will be just Jack Harkness. You will refer only to me as Captain and if you piss me off then you will be just Jack."

Jack nodded his head in silent agreement and upon doing so he saw Boris laughing out of the corner of his eye. The Captain glared half-heartedly at Boris and let out a deep sigh: "I was trying to be intimidating. I guess that gasket's been blown. So tell me Jack, how does a 21st century human get a hold of a vortex manipulator?"

"I'm from the 51st century. Had an incident with a doctor awhile back and got stranded there." Jack replied blandly but, oddly enough, truthfully, "I latched onto your ship in order to escape from that planet. It's far too small. I only ask for transport to whatever port you're traveling to."

"Nobody travels for free," The Captain said dryly, "You'll have to earn your keep. Are you familiar with the Cold Fusion Cruiser A42-series?"

"I'm comfortable enough with one." Jack replied.

"Well, I don't want you tinkering around with my ship so you're on janitorial duty. We serve three meals a day: a bell signals their arrival. Just follow the mass of people. Are you hungry now?" Jack declined her offer of food and so she ordered: "Boris if you'll please take him to one of the bunkers on the east side of the ship. That will be all."

"Yes Captain." Boris stood and saluted. Jack followed Boris glumly down the halls staying silent until Boris looked over and said, "You're a quiet fellah aint ya?"

Jack's mind flashed briefly on a story about an android with two cocks that he met flying around the Medusa cascade during his time as a time agent where he was definitely not a quiet fellah, but a stab of guilt hit him and the story, like so many others that had come to mind these past six months, went untold.

Boris seemed to get the hint, as he didn't try to start a conversation with Jack and simply opened the door for Jack and then walked away. Jack hung his coat on the hook by the door. Smoothing it out, remembering Ianto's voice scolding fondly: _"Everything has its place. A coat when not on your back belongs on a coat rack. Otherwise it will wrinkle and you can't save the world in a wrinkled coat."_

Jack pulled out a thin silky sliver of material from one of the deep pockets of his trousers before going to sit on the padded cot. He let the tie run through his fingers before wrapping it tightly around his neck and tugging. He closed his eyes and died.

Jack came gasping back to life. He unwound Ianto's tie from his neck and kissed it fondly. He buried his nose in the silk and inhaled a deep breath. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes as he realized his own smell had overpowered that which was once Ianto's. He knew not how long he stood there, clutching this tiny slip of material, with his breath coming out in deep ragged gasps. The breakfast bell rang and Jack slid the scrap of fabric back into his pocket with a heavy breath.

He joined the throng of people headed towards the mess hall. Ha had been aboard _The Peregrine_ for a fortnight and had quickly fallen into a routine, but today they would be landing on Vega which meant that it is time for him to move on. A new port and a new adventure: hopefully one that would help to ease the guilt, but not make him forget. He would never forget: he had promised.

Jack took a seat at the long table and was handed a plate of what looked like alien meat, but not the fun kind. It was a purplish tough rubbery meat which oozed green drops and he had become used to it throughout his stay despite its hearty after taste. He was chewing the meat carefully, to do otherwise was to risk biting into a pocket of the azure fluid and having it fill your mouth with bitter liquid, when a small leather purse was dropped down next to his knife.

"Your wages," Boris said in the gruff voice he reserved for Jack, "Minus room and board."

"Thank you," Jack replied politely. He took his time finishing the meal and had just taking his last bite when the motion of the ship docking jarred his plate a bit. Then Jack stood, swooped the bag into one of the endless pockets of his coat, and made his way planet-side.

The first thing that Jack did was ask a nearby partially corporeal life form for directions to the closest pub. It turned out to be a seedy place called _Klomm_, named for a planet that recently acquired fame for having been so useless that it wasn't until it got caught in the Dalek scheme to align the planets into a transmitter that someone realized it had been left out of _The Great Encyclopedia of Everything in the Universe_ (currently housed in the "The Library").

Jack slid onto a barstool and ordered hyperspace vodka from a biped bartender with eight and a half tentacles. He lifted his glass to his mouth, fully intending to drown his sorrows in the most potent drink in the galaxy, when he heard the voice of the last person in the universe he wanted to hear at that moment.

"Well, well, well: I knew you'd come for me," The drawling voice of Captain John Hart sounded from beside him.

One corner of Jack's mouth twitched up against his will: "Go away John."

John clicked his tongue: "Oh no, seems like something has gotten your panties in a bunch. Where'd you put eye-candy? I'm sure he'll help you straighten them out."

Jack downed the rest of his vodka, "One more barkeep."

John frowned and signaled for the bartender to fix him one as well, "Jack, did something happen?"

The two drinks that the octopus armed humanoid delivered both disappeared down Jack's throat in quick succession. John started to protest the sudden acquisition of his drink, but changed his mind at the look on Jack's face and ordered a few more drinks. Jack took a sip of his new drink and whispered, "I killed them: all of them. It was my fault. It is always my fault."

John cracked a smile, "You know what I always say: the odd kill: Who does it hurt?"

Jack ignored him and took another gulp, the alcohol burning pleasantly as it slid down his esophagus and gathered pleasantly in a warm pool in his stomach. He continued after a long pause with his voice tortured and cracking: "He loved me and he followed me in there and he thought I had a plan, he trusted me to have a plan, but I didn't and he died."

"Eye candy's dead?" John asked: a single perfectly trimmed eyebrow rose in surprise.

Jack replied by ordering another drink. They sat there in silence until the pub had almost emptied of life forms. By this point Jack had swallowed twice his weight in alcohol, used up half of his wages, and died twice from alcohol poisoning. Also by this point, John's patience had entirely vanished. He spoke up in a lazy drawl, "Bored now."

Jack laughed, but it didn't reach his eyes, "I'm terribly sorry that my grief isn't entertaining enough for you."

"What I don't understand is: something made you this way, yeah? So why don't you just recreate it. Bring eye candy back to life."

Jack froze and stuttered: "The power that brought me back can't be controlled. It nearly killed…"

"My point exactly," John smirked.

"I could get him back." The revelation made Jack's heart stop for a moment. For an instant he had hope and then: "but what if he doesn't want to live forever with me?"

"I saw the look in his eyes Jack and as much as I loathe to admit it: Eye candy would travel through eight different hell dimensions and back if it meant getting to spend eternity with you."

Jack smiled, a genuine smile that stretched muscles that hadn't been in use for months and made his cheeks hurt, and said: "You know what. I think you're right. Who wouldn't want to spend eternity with me? It's the jaw line you know: once seen…"

John laughed: "So what does this mean?"

Jack leapt to his feet and grabbed his coat off the stool next to him. He grinned wildly and answered: "It means I've got to find a certain Doctor."


	2. Names

For the past six months Jack had heard names being repeated over and over again in his head: Ianto, Steven, Owen, Tosh, Suzie, Gray, Jack, Tommy, Estelle, Adam, Clem, Lisa, Beth, Alex, Diane: so many names echoing over and over again. However, as he boarded the transport cruiser bound for the outer regions of the Andromeda galaxy, his mind was clear and focused despite being followed by a chattering Captain John Hart.

"So, since I was the one who gave you this brilliant idea, do you think you could give me your immortality thing too when you bring eye-candy back to life? No? I didn't think so, but you do owe me something and this would definitely cover your debt along with the debt you owe me for saving your little team during the Gray fiasco. Okay, I guess I caused that fiasco, but I'm helping you get eye-candy back so you do owe me for that. I came up with the plan… what exactly is the plan? Jack?"

Jack rubbed his temple in irritation. He could feel the faint vestiges of a headache fading as his "immortality thing" kicked in. A male Malmooth was collecting fares at the top of the gangplank, "Aran-credits please-tho."

Jack gestured that John would pay and he continued down the through the hold of the ship. A huffing John caught up with him shortly, "I'm sure she shafted me. Bloody ungrateful lot the Malmooth: you get them in bed and they spend half the time shouting their own name."

Jack chuckled slightly but then froze: "I met a Malmooth once; at the end of everything."

John tilted his head slightly and looked up at Jack, "You really are a drama queen aren't you? And a boring one at that: Time was you'd make a comment about how you're so good in bed that your name followed by raucous moaning would be the only thing a Malmooth would say during shagging."

Jack grinned rakishly, "Well, I figured that would go without saying."

"Hello handsome. You look like you're leaving someone planet side. Would you like to send them a beautiful flower arrangement to help ease the pain of your departure?" A cybernetic humanoid tortoise interrupted, brandishing an electric catalogue. Jack's face fell immediately.

"Fuck off." John sneered and pushed the pacifistic Chelonian to the ground. He then rubbed his hands together, "Okay, back on track Jack. What's the plan?"

"The plan is find The Doctor."

"Find the Doctor? Can't we play just play doctor? I think you're in need of a physical."

Jack continued as if he hadn't heard John speak: "More specifically, we need to find his little Blue Box."

John snorted disdainfully, "You want to steal a TARDIS from a Time Lord?

Jack smiled; showing every single one of his gleaming white teeth: "Not steal: I have a key."

The two ex-time agents made their way to the mess hall and sequestered themselves in an empty corner to iron out the details of the plan. Jack took a bite of a succulent piece of Kow (An alien species distantly related to the earthen cow. Unbeknownst to the humans of earth the cow species didn't develop until far in the current timeline. A few thousand years later a clan of cows tired of the opulent existence and traveled back in time where peaceful living devolved them to the simple non-speaking creatures humans digest today ) and spoke with his mouth still full: "So we know two things and we have two options."

John wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Will you tell me what those two things are after you've chewed your food properly."

Jack took a swig of banana juice and apologized, "Okay. So, the Doctor is a wanderer, but his traveling isn't exactly random. Major events or people and danger are the two primary factors in tracking his location. Since we're from later in the timeline we know when all these major events are going to occur so we have those two options I mentioned. One: we can use your vortex manipulator and hop around time hoping to chance upon one of those times or we can stay linearly on this time line and travel to all the events we know about until we find him. "

When John didn't speak up right away Jack glanced over at him curiously. John was busy making eyes at a blushing mechanic. After a minute John seemed to notice that Jack had stopped speaking and turned to meet raised eyebrows: "What? Just because you're not getting any doesn't mean I'm going to behave. It just means more for me."

"Tosh was right. You are worse than me."

"Tosh was that pretty little Asian girl right? I liked her. I like technical geniuses as a whole, except that Bitch that tried to kill me, diamond my arse. Anyway, technical gods: nimble fingers."

"Bloody hell. Do I really sound like you?" Jack groaned.

"You're worse actually," John stood and took a swig of Jack's banana juice. He gave a wolfish grin before stalking after his prey and calling over his shoulder to Jack: "See you at breakfast."

Jack digested the rest of his meal ruefully and headed off to his rented room in silence. Mechanically he slid off his coat and hung it on a conveniently located pull-out coat rack. He then pulled out that same familiar well worn tie he used every night to help him rest. He rubbed the fabric across his jaw before looping it around his neck. He sank down onto the bed, closed his eyes, and pulled.

A puff of air escaped Jack's lips as he came back to life and opened his eyes to meet the shocked face of John Hart, "That's just sick."

Jack calmly unwound the tie and went to replace it in the inside pocket of his coat. He walked over to the mirror to fix his hair and asked John: "How was your night?"

"How was my night?" John asked incredulously, "A lot better than yours it seems. I never knew you were one for asphyxiation."

"Well I did have a girlfriend once who every Thursday liked to-"

"Are you talking about Lydia Palmer? I partnered with her for about two days with the Time Agency before she tried to strangle me. If I knew that it was in pursuit of pleasure I wouldn't have pushed her off of that cliff."

"What's with you and pushing time agents off of high places? I would have been more careful on that rooftop if I knew about Lydia," Jack winked as he swung on his military coat.

John snorted, "I would have killed you no matter how careful you were. When will you accept that I'm better than you?"

"Do I have to remind you which one of us nearly got blown up after chasing after a diamond that didn't even exist?"

"I knew you would throw that back in my face. I would bring up the Gray fiasco, but my finding him doesn't really outweigh getting you buried in the ground for thousands of years."

"No, no it doesn't."

"That's what I thought. Now, we're headed towards the outskirts of Andromeda and taking into context the year and date does that mean we're headed to Buzz-fest?"

Jack nodded, "It's a slim chance that The Doctor will show up at the biggest drinking festival in the galaxy since he's child-friendly, but we might as well try since we're in this time line and it's on the way to the destruction of Antiope and I could have sworn that he played a part in that."

"Brilliant." John said hopping to his feet. He opened the latch and called over his shoulder, "Hungry now."

Jack followed him out of the door: "You do know that normal people speak in complete sentences right? Sentences that have subjects and verbs"

"My subject and verb were implied. I hope that there is bacon at breakfast: Bacon from an elliptical galaxy. Elliptical galaxies make the best bacon for some reason."

"It's odd that of all the different types of food it's bacon that is almost universal."

There was no bacon at breakfast causing John to give a huge sigh of disappointment, "At least I had plenty of sausage last night."

Jack smacked him upside the head. John turned forcefully, brought his face within an inch of Jack's and said coldly, "If I wasn't in such a good mood then I would shove this poisoned dart in my hand straight into your cock. Don't forget that. Don't forget that with a single press of a finger I could end your pitiful existence."

Jack quickly and subtly grabbed the hand in which John held the dart and bent John's finger backwards, "Then don't forget that I am far more dangerous than you: Especially now."

John stumbled away from Jack once his finger was released. He straightened his collar, glared at Jack and huffed off to an empty table to lick his wounds. Jack narrowed his eyes at John and gripped his hand in a tight fist causing the muscles in his arm to ripple pleasantly. He counted to five in his head and then slowly relaxed his fist.

A year later Jack was ready to form that fist again and to drive it straight into John's solar plexus. They had acquired a spacecraft of their own by this point and John insisted on filling it with items he had obtained by various means of variable legality. The reason for Jack's current anger could be traced back to a beer hat capable of holding twenty four beers. It had been 'given' to John at their first stop (Buzz-fest) and he had managed to hold onto it since. Jack could not comprehend how John had kept a hold of this garish hat since he seemed to insist on leaving it in troublesome locations: currently the floor of a cramped corridor.

John laughed uproariously at seeing Jack sprawled spread-eagle on the ground, "I see you've found my hat."

Jack glared at John and was about to start insulting John when a flashing blue light filled the corridor along with John's voice over speakers saying: "John is sexier than Jack" over and over again. John raised an eyebrow at Jack, "Really?"

John shrugged, "You had it set to say 'TARDIS alert'. How boring is that?"

The mention of The Doctors ship seemed to jerk Jack into action as he took off towards the control room. John followed him at a more relaxed pace and leaned against the doorway with his elbow against the frame and his forearm on top of his head. He smirked to himself as he watched Jack rush around the cramped compartment. Jack was muttering frantically to himself, "This is it… bloody fuck this is it… flip this switch…calibrate longitude…Yes! Locked on to the TARDIS…please don't jump timelines Doctor, not now that I've found you at last…wait…where is he going?... there's nothing on our maps…we aren't getting any readings…"

The ship gave an almighty lurch as it crashed into…nothing. The movement jarred John out of his casual position and resulted in him falling straight onto his arse: "Bullocks."

Jack chuckled; feeling justified in doing so since the situation had been reversed not ten minutes ago, and said rather pointlessly, "We just crashed into nothing."

"Thanks for that Captain Obvious."

"You're welcome Sergeant Sarcastic."

"Bloody hell we spent too much time on 21st century Earth."

Jack looked away from what looked like splotches of paint being brushed onto a blank canvas forming a sandy hill with a bit of a hole in the side that contained their ship and faced John, "You do know that I'm going back there, once I get Ianto back, and if you help me there will always be a space on my team for you."

John's eyes lit up and once he realized this he covered it by brushing his nose, "Yeah, well I knew you'd be begging for me to be on your team eventually. If I do take you up on your offer then we have to rethink the name. Personally I'm quite fond of Excalibur."

"Don't make me regret extending you an invitation already," Jack grinned.

"I had to take the piss about something. I was afraid you were going to start crying on me and recounting 'the good times' or some other shit like that."

Jack rolled his startling blue eyes, "Well it looks like the land is finished painting itself. Let's go find us a time vortex."


	3. Gang Aft Agley

"You would think that this would have been more difficult," John said as they walked up to the TARDIS. They had simply exited their spacecraft, walked to the top of the hill they crashed into, and spotted the blue police box from the height. Then they walked down to it with no incident other than John stubbing his toe and having a bit of a fit about it.

"Yes, but if you think about it: he really does just leave it lying about." Jack replied, reaching into one of his pockets for the key. Jack put the key in the lock and it clicked open.

"It's bigger on the inside," John said dryly as he observed the gleaming interior of the space ship.

Jack laughed, "It's dimensionally transcendental: the inside occupies a different dimension from the outside or something like that. Now, we just have to figure out how the inside opens."

Opening the panel was a task the pair took to with enthusiasm. They had brought with them a device that a salesmen had guaranteed could open any lock In 60 seconds (which they assumed would work because Jack had a similar looking piece of alien tech at Torchwood Three that could do just that). Half an hour later they had given up on the lock-picker and were standing above the compartment with their handy wrist straps out looking like they were doing absolutely nothing (when in actuality Jack was doing something high tech and complicated while John played a version of Pong and pretended that he was helping). Another hour passed and found John searching through the wardrobe and Jack resolutely fiddling with the ships' own set of controls. Then, suddenly, the door to the TARDIS opened and The Doctor came bounding in.

"Hello there Jack," The Doctor called without looking, "I knew I never should have given you a key. I knew you'd take it as an invitation to enter whenever."

Jack grinned and immediately enveloped the Doctor in a hug, "Yet, for some reason you did. I'd go as far to say that you like having me around."

The Doctor laughed as he hung up his coat, "Things are more interesting when you're around. Now, tell me Jack. What brings you here?"

"I just thought I'd pop in for a chat: I was in this solar region and I saw you fly by."

"Jack have you got the bloody thing open yet?" John called, emerging from lower decks dressed in what seemed to be the scarf that fourth wore, a celery stick favored by Fifth pinned to the coat of clashing colours worn by Sixth, the Panama hat of Seventh, and a cravat probably worn by Third.

"Are you wearing my clothes?" The Doctor sputtered.

"I could strip if you'd like, but then of course it would only be fair if you got naked too. Maybe we could even convince Jack to join in."

The Doctor turned to Jack, "He's you when we first met and honestly I didn't like you when we first met. What is he doing here?"

"I'll have you know I came up with this plan," John sneered.

"He's not staying."

"He's harmless," Jack insisted.

"He has a gun on him. Guns are the opposite of harmless."

"Take the gun away then. You stole mine once and replaced it with a banana once. It will be a simpler task to take it from him."

"He's still not staying."

"He's right here." John whined.

Jack shrugged, "Listen, you haven't got anything to drink have you? I could murder a coffee."

"Actually, I have it on good authority that I recently acquired the best coffee machine in the galaxy. Took quite a bit of tricky time maneuvering to get it, but my new companion insisted."

"New? What happened to Rose and Donna Noble?"

The Doctor's face clouded over, but then he smiled, "They're safe. Rose is back in the other dimension with the human version of me and Donna is home with her family."

"You were left alone?"

"I'm used to it."

Jack groaned loudly, "I can't believe I thought that the last living Time Lord and a man who can't die would be interesting, but it's one pity party after another with you two. You should have left me at Buzz fest. They managed to distill that space cloud made of beer."

The Doctor looked at him curiously, "You're still here then?"

"I'm getting some air," John said with a snort and he stormed out of the TARDIS. A few moments after his dramatic exit a shout of "Bloody hell" echoed from his direction followed by barking.

"Should we go help him?" Jack asked.

The Doctor shrugged, "No, he'll be fine. Just startled I think."

A Golden retriever like-dog bounded through the TARDIS door that John had left cracked open and ran over to sniff Jack curiously. Jack allowed the dog to lick his face as he looked up at the Doctor flabbergasted, "You have a dog?"

"His name is Harry Potter," The Doctor replied cheerfully as the dog made its way over to him. He patted the dog carefully on top of the head, "I was told that getting a dog would be a good idea. He's a special kind we found in the sixtieth century: he has a prolonged lifespan."

Jack smiled at him, "You could use the company."

Now the Doctor broke out into a jovial grin, "Oh, but I have company now. I haven't told you the best bit yet. I have company: Another Time Lord."

"That's impossible."

"That's what I thought, but we thought that once before and The Master got around that. Which got me thinking: What if he wasn't the only one to use a Fob watch to escape the Time War. There could be any number of Time Lords existing as humans throughout time and space. So, when Donna left I began rewriting the TARDIS's tracking system. I still had my Fob watch so it was only a matter of time before I was able to find a tangible base particle for the TARDIS to track."

"Still, the sheer impossibility of the probability of being able to find another Time Lord through all time…" Jack trailed off.

"Yes!" The Doctor shouted excitedly, "If I had any other ship, but the TARDIS chances are I would never have been able to find him, but the TARDIS is connected with my people telepathically and emotionally. It wants to find other Time Lords. So when I set it to that task it automatically expanded the search to include time."

"That's oddly useful: Unless you're running away from a crazy ex girlfriend who has a TARDIS."

"You'd know about running away wouldn't you Jack?" The Doctor said quietly.

Jack's head shot up, "What did you just say?"

"I was there Jack."

"Why didn't you help me? I needed you," Jacks voice cracked helplessly.

"I landed at the end. Just before you destroyed the 456 and you know the event is time locked once the TARDIS lands."

Jack froze, "That week is time locked?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yup, moment the TARDIS lands I become a part of events."

Jack collapsed against the railing of the ship and accidentally onto the tail of Harry Potter who barked anxiously before retreating to his dog bed in the corner, "So I can't go back and save them?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Jack, "I wouldn't have let you go back and change events any way Jack. Did you learn nothing from your time as a Time Agent? Or from Satellite Five? Or from an episode of Star Trek?"

"What's the point of being able to travel through time if you can't change anything? What's the use of it if you can't even use it to save the ones you love?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by the re-entrance of John. He slammed the door open with a large 'crack' and began slinging off his jacket, "Bloody hell Jack, you're not going to believe this."

"Coat," The Doctor said warningly, nodding at the coat rack by the door. John shot him an incredulous look, but The Doctor insisted, "Trust me. Hang the coat up."

John rolled his eyes and dropped the coat in a pile on the floor, "Oops."

"It's your funeral," The Doctor shrugged, "Is he coming in?"

"I don't even know how he's there. Why the fuck would I know if he plans on coming in?"

"Oi! Part-Time Shag! Come in." The Doctor called.

An irritated familiar voice floated in from outside, "I told you not to call me that. It was a joke. I'll be right there: this planet got dirt all over the TARDIS and it's taking awhile to clean off."

The Doctor turned to Jack, ignoring his gob smacked expression, and explained, "He's having some trouble picking a Time Lord name."

"I don't know why I need a Time Lord name," the voice stated as it entered, "I've had the same name all my life so why can't I just keep that. I like being –"

"Ianto Jones," Jack interrupted, albeit a bit breathlessly.

"Hello Jack," The aforementioned Ianto Jones said simply, one side of his mouth quirked up, after staring at Jack for a moment he turned abruptly away and left the room quickly muttering, "I'll put some coffee on."


	4. Brewing

Ianto Jones' hands were shaking as he tried to operate the complicated levers of the coffee machine that he had insisted on using time travel to rescue. He pulled a stack of coffee cups out of a cupboard and they arrived safely onto the countertop despite the loud clattering caused by his trembling hands. Ianto clenched his fingernails into his fists as he watched the elaborate machine operate. The whirring of the multiple gaskets and the smell of freshly brewed coffee calmed him considerably. His rapid breathing slowed and he slowly let his fists unclench.

Ianto Jones was a fan of routines and he found the monotonous task of making coffee relaxing. He began pouring his secret brew into the four awaiting cups. He heard a noise from behind him and he spoke aloud, "You're staring Jack."

"I like watching you work," Jack said as he entered the room entirely.

Ianto set the coffee pot down with enough force to show his frustration but not enough to endanger the integrity of the glass. He turned to and asked: "What are you doing here Jack?"

"Looking for you," Jack replied stepping closer: his eyes dark with desire.

"Not here in this room. Here in general. "

"Looking for you," Jack said again with a smile as he stepped even closer so his body was inches away from Ianto.

Ianto turned away flustered, two spots of colour appearing high in his cheeks, and muttered to himself: "Looking for me inside John's trousers no doubt."

Jack chuckled warmly and pressed his body up against Ianto and rested his chin on Ianto's shoulder. He placed his mouth close to Ianto's ear and whispered, "He was helping me find you."

"John was helping someone other than himself?" Ianto asked incredulously, an eyebrow rising in disbelief of its own accord.

"He found it in his best interest to help me find a way to bring you back," Jack murmured against Ianto's cheek as he began to place soft kisses down Ianto's jaw line. Ianto leaned into his kisses but when Jack reached his mouth Ianto pulled away abruptly.

"I was bloody dying you tosser!" Ianto shouted heatedly. He took a deep breath to relax and said quietly but tersely "I've seen the way you look at her Jack. I know you don't love me the way you love her, but I was dying and you couldn't even let me pretend just for a minute that maybe you did."

Jack shook his head sadly, "Monogamy has never been an easy concept for me Ianto, but you have to believe me when I tell you that I love you. Part of me loved Gwen yes, but I chose you. I want you. I love you Ianto Jones."

"Then why didn't you tell me that?" Ianto asked as he angrily wiped away tears, "You said 'don't' Jack. Bloody fuck Jack! Why?"

Jack had tears of his own sliding slowly down his cheeks and leaving behind salty tracks. He reached towards Ianto's shoulder to comfort him but Ianto pulled away with a sob. Jack tried to explain: "I couldn't accept that you were dying Ianto. If I told you that I loved you it would have been giving up. It would have given me a sense of closure that I didn't deserve. I had to keep fighting for you. I had to bring you back to me."

"You selfish bastard," Ianto cried softly.

Jack pulled the protesting Welshman towards him and grasped his face between his large hands. He slowly began kissing away Ianto's tears murmuring softly, "I love you Ianto Jones and I will tell you so over and over again until the end of the world. We can have forever together and I want to spend every second of it with you."

Ianto collapsed against him and buried his head in the crook of Jack's neck. Jack held him tightly against his warm chest and breathed in the smell that had faded from the tie he slept with every night. He chuckled slightly against Ianto's head: "You got new shampoo."

Ianto returned Jack's tight embrace and laughed breathlessly against him: "Yeah, they don't exactly sell Herbal Essence on alien planets."

"I knew you used woman's shampoo." Jack teased and held Ianto tighter, "I've missed you so much Ianto."

"Jack I can't breathe." Ianto protested: his voice muffled against the collar of Jack's coat.

His objections only caused Jack to squeeze him even closer. They stayed in that position, holding each other as if life depended on them touching as much of each other as possible, until a loud beep signaled that the coffee had gotten cold and was reheating automatically. Now it was Jack's turn to protest as Ianto pulled away, "The coffee can wait Ianto."

Ianto grinned ruefully at Jack as he poured some steaming Peruvian blend into the awaiting cups, "The Doctor's gotten addicted. Trust me: you don't want to see him when he's caffeine deprived."

Jack breathed in the delicious smell of coffee brewed by Ianto, "I think you put special drugs into it so that we all become dependent on you."

A wink was Ianto's only reply as he bustled about making each coffee to the recipient's specific tastes. Jack slid his arms around Ianto's waist while he works:"John takes sugar and cream and – "

"A dash of Bailey's," Ianto interrupted, "I remember. I made it for him when we were planning our search for the canisters."

Jack kissed Ianto's neck. The younger man was used to making coffee with Jack pressed up behind him, it was a routine he had mastered early into their quasi-relationship, so he was unhampered in his task and he let Jack stay. When Ianto was almost finished Jack asked, "How long has it been?"

"Three months and twelve days." Ianto replied, "And for you?"

"Longer." Jack replied, moving away slightly to allow Ianto to pick up the tray and walk back towards the control room. The TARDIS had rotated the kitchen while they were in there and it now took them twenty steps to walk to the control room which gave Jack ample time to rub up against Ianto.

When they entered the room Ianto began passing out coffee and Jack began admiring Ianto's firm buttocks. It was then that he began to notice little changes made around the ship. John was sitting on a leather couch in one corner next to a potted plant. There were also cup holders built onto the control panel which The Doctor was able to set his cup on.

"Plants make people happy," Ianto told Jack as he handed him his coffee.

"I remember a time when there was a plant that did not make you happy," Jack laughed, moaning in pleasure as he took a sip of his drink.

Ianto groaned as he remembered the alien flora that once held him under its thrall, "Even when I wasn't a field agent everything happened to me: I got turned invisible, I got turned into a woman, and I got controlled by a plant."

"Our date at the zoo didn't end very well did it? Though you did end up naked so I could count that as a success," Jack grinned.

"Except that out of all the people who ended up seeing my cock-a-doodle-do that night you weren't one of them," Ianto laughed.

"Have the two love birds made up then?" John drawled from the corner.

Ianto tossed the tray like a Frisbee at John and went to help the Doctor start up the TARDIS, "Where are we headed Doctor?"

"Anywhere in space and time," The Doctor replied with a cheeky smile, "Do we have to bring the troublesome twosome with us?"

"I doubt we'll be able to shake them off. I believe Jack once held onto the TARDIS as it flew through the time vortex to the end of the universe." Ianto told him dryly.

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully, "But it was trying to get away from him so maybe it will help out again. Time travelers don't like fixed points."

"We'll just have to cross our fingers and hope then," Ianto let out a heavy sigh which morphed by itself into a large yawn.

The Doctor looked at him curiously and switched off the TARDIS, "Shall we stay here for the night instead? We just saved a planet I think that's cause for a good night's sleep."

"We all just drank coffee," Ianto insisted, "We aren't going to be able to sleep now."

"Well then, how about a game?"

"Naked hide and seek?"Jack asked hopefully.

"I'm literally up for that," John put in.

"No." The Doctor shot them down firmly causing the two ex-time agents to frown in a dignified manner (okay they pouted, though they wouldn't admit to that).

"How about we play Nertz?" Ianto suggested, "It's kind of like solitaire."

Jack, having played the game in the HUB with his former team, immediately agreed and helped Ianto explain the rules as they headed towards the kitchen to play, "It's like Dutch Blitz…"

The Doctor and John picked up the card game rules quickly and it became a fast paced frenzy of flying cards. They played for several hours with the winner switching off between the players each round. They had agreed on playing to two hundred and all four competitors were just shy of the number going into the twentieth round.

"Nertz!" Jack yelled triumphantly, confident that the extra bonus of ten points from emptying his pile first would secure him the win. He was taunting the others when the final count revealed that Ianto had managed to get twice as many cards as Jack out which meant the victory went to him.

Ianto reveled in his win through a quick happy dance that caused John to snort, "I cheated and bloody eye candy still beat me. How is that possible?"

"If you cheat inside the TARDIS it makes sure that you lose," The Doctor explains.

"No cheating? Maybe we should have played naked hide and seek. I could have won for once," Ianto pondered out loud, his eyes glittering with humor at Jack.

"Well we could go to your room and have a one on one competition," Jack suggested, scooting his chair closer to Ianto, his eyes dark with desire.

Ianto waggled his finger warningly at Jack, "You're not forgiven that easily Jack. Some pretty words and a few kisses isn't enough to get you back in my bed."

"You could always punish me first," Jack murmured suggestively, sliding his hand up Ianto's inner thigh.

The Doctor stood abruptly and rushed out with a hand over his eyes calling: "Alright then, I'm off to bed. See you all in the morning."

Jack looked pointedly at John, making it clear that he should make himself scarce, but John shook his head: "This is the best entertainment I've had since that triple breasted whore a few planets back. I'm staying for the show."

"There isn't going to be a show," Ianto insisted, pushing Jack's hand away. He gathered up the empty mugs and took them over to the sink to wash. Jack and John watched with raised eyebrows as Ianto pulled out an apron, a pair of rubber gloves, and dishwashing soap.

John sneered as Jack walked over to help dry, "How domestic of you. I guess I will go catch some shut eye or maybe see if there is room in The Doctor's bed."

"Better men than you have tried and failed," Jack let him know as he slowly dried a dish with a cloth handed to him by Ianto.

"Including Jack," The newly instated time lord piped up cheekily. Jack took this as cause to splash some water at the younger man. Ianto retaliated by squirting a soapy stream back at the brash immortal. Jack tried to turn the quick battle into a water fight war but Ianto admonished him until he started drying again.

After the dishes were finished Jack leaned in for a kiss, but Ianto turned him away, "I can't Jack, not yet. I can't have it be like before and when you kiss me everything stops so I have to think."

Ianto left Jack standing there and rushed off to his own room. He had painted the door to his bedroom red so he could differentiate between the moving doors. He stripped down to a pair of threadbare red boxers and absentmindedly conducted his evening routine: he threw his clothes in the hamper, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and set his alarm.

An hour later Ianto was still wide awake under the covers and so he tiptoed out into the corridor and towards the light that was still on in the kitchen. Jack was sitting at the table, his chin resting in his hand as he stared off into space. Ianto stood in the doorway and called softly, "Jack."

Jack looked up, surprise turning to worry: "Yan? Is everything okay? Can I get you something?"

"Will you come to bed with me?" Ianto asked shyly, not meeting Jack's gaze, "Just to sleep."

A wide smile spread across Jack's face, "I would love to."

Ianto led Jack to his room and carefully helped Jack out of his greatcoat. Jack undressed while Ianto hung the coat up on the rack present in the corner. Ianto stroked the tough but soft military fabric as he listened to Jack slid under the covers, "Check the inside left pocket."

"The lube pocket?" Ianto remarked with a verbal raised eyebrow.

Jack laughed, "Below that one. I thought you should have it back."

Ianto pulled out the thin sliver silk of one of his ties, "There's blood on it. Jack…"

"Come to bed Yan. I'll explain. No more secrets."

The sheets slid aside momentarily so that Ianto could join Jack beneath them. Jack spread his arms so that Ianto could rest his head against Jack's bare chest, and then gripped the younger man tight in his embrace. Ianto yawned as he buried his head under Jack's chin, "Okay. Explain the blood Jack."

Jack threaded his fingers in Ianto's thick brown hair, "Maybe we should wait till morning. You're knackered: you should sleep."

Ianto looked up crossly, which from his current position made him look slightly cross-eyed, "Jack. You said no more secrets. I want to know now."

Jack sighed, and trailed his fingers over Ianto's mostly naked body, not trying to entice Ianto, but to reassure himself that this was all real and not a vivid hallucination, "I was in a bad place for awhile: after I thought I lost you. I couldn't live with the memories and so at night I didn't live with them."

Ianto inhaled sharply, "Jack, you have to promise me that you'll never do that again. I know what it's like now Jack, the darkness."

Jack placed a firm kiss to the top of Ianto's head, "I lost all hope Ianto. I was in my own darkness and I couldn't get back. There was no super power to pull me back over the shattered glass."

Soft lips kissed the hollow of Jack's throat, "After Lisa you gave me meaning again. You taught me how to live again. Maybe it's time that I returned the favor."


	5. Some Explanations

Artificial sunlight began to lighten the room in which Ianto and Jack were cuddled snugly on the bed, their legs intertwined and their bodies wrapped around each other so tightly that an outside observer would struggle to determine which limbs belonged to which man. Jack had been awake for a few hours now and was staring at the peaceful face of his bed partner. He was rememorizing every line and dip of the man's face, committing every centimeter to memory.

"Jack, stop looking at me and go back to sleep." Ianto mumbled, pulling Jack's face down closer to his own and rolling even closer to the aforementioned insomniac.

"I don't have to sleep," Jack replied cockily, "I'm brilliant."

"Sleep is brilliant." Ianto's welsh tones were harsher with sleep, "Just because you don't have to sleep doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it."

"Some things are more important than sleep," Jack replied, brushing aside a lock of Ianto's hair.

"Only coffee and shagging," Ianto's mumble had regressed to being almost incomprehensible.

Jack's chest shook against Ianto's body as he laughed deeply and roughly, "You're just talking out of your perfect arse right now aren't you."

"Might be that," Ianto's eyes fluttered open slightly, but the light caused him to groan and shut them tightly again, "Not getting up."

Jack ordered the lights off, "Okay, you win, but when we do get up you're explaining to me how exactly you became a Time Lord."

Ianto nodded and yawned and lifted his head without thinking so that Jack could flip the pillow to the cold side, a habit that Ianto had forced himself to forget but now made him smile as his body reacted naturally to being with Jack again, and Jack preferred the cold side. Ianto was about to drift back off into sleep when he heard Jack say to him: "I was dreaming about you."

Ianto opened his eyes to find Jack looking directly into them: "You do know that I told you to never bring up that conversation again and now you've brought it up twice."

"It was sweet," Jack insisted.

"You were unconscious. I thought that you couldn't hear me."

Jack grinned playfully at Ianto and stole a kiss, "Well I'm glad I could hear you."

"Your breath is atrocious. Not unlike your manners in bed," was Ianto's cheeky reply.

Jack snorted, "I can't believe that you almost told Gwen about the time that – "

"Ah!" A loud furious scream echoed from down the hallway.

Jack made to roll out of bed to investigate, but Ianto stilled his movement, "It's just John."

"He could be in trouble," Jack protested and tried to pull away until he saw the tiny smirk on Ianto's face, "What did you do?"

"He left his coat on the floor," Ianto replied innocently, "I'm sure that it's just finding its way back to him."

Jack laughed and pressed his lips against the smirk on Ianto's face and was pleased to have Ianto respond to the kiss. Jack nibbled Ianto's bottom lip gently and then swiped across the area with his tongue. Ianto moaned at the duel sensation of Jack's tongue entering his mouth and his warm hands sliding down his back. Jack traced along the familiar line of Ianto's shoulder blade as he plundered the younger man's mouth.

Ianto pulled away with a gasp, "You're addicting."

"It's the pheromones," Jack breathed, leaning in for another kiss.

A gentle push stopped Jack and Ianto reluctantly climbed out of bed before his willpower could wane again, "I had no idea how firm my self control became in your absence."

Jack groaned loudly at the loss of Ianto's warm form and he propped himself up on one elbow to watch Ianto as he moved about, "I think I liked it better when your self-control was on par with mine: more often than not it led to shagging in the Hub."

Ianto rolled his eyes as he stripped off his boxers, "I'm going to take a shower."

A pair of blue eyes ogled Ianto's firm buttocks, "Is you getting naked in front of me an invitation for me to join you in the shower?"

Ianto closed the door firmly and loudly behind him, effectively letting Jack know that he was expected to remain in bed. Jack rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling as he dropped his hand down his body until it drifted across the slight bit of hair the dusted down from his belly button before disappearing under his waistband. Jack's hand followed the trail as he pictured Ianto soaping himself up three meters away.

It had been a long time since Jack had gripped his swollen member: he hadn't had any sort of social interaction since a rushed meeting with Ianto in the Hub Two. Jack hadn't gone this long without sex since he was a child growing up on the Boeshane Peninsula so it was a great relief when he began slowly fisting his turgid cock.

Jack slid his boxers down to his ankles so that he could better cup his balls with his one hand and caress them firmly as he twisted his other hand around his penis, which was now damp with pre cum and a slight sheen of sweat, pumping furiously. He could feel his balls start to tighten and his toes spread in pleasure when the lavatory door opened to reveal a completely nude and sopping wet Ianto Jones.

The sight of the naked, half-hard, dripping young Welshman was enough to put Jack over the edge. He let out a primal cry of pleasure and his back arched off the bed as a thick smattering of white fluid shot out onto his bare chest. Jack's body shook pleasantly as he came down from his orgasm and he looked at the younger man with a sheepish grin on his face. Ianto's eyes were lidded with desire as he stared at the drops of cum littering Jack's hard abdomen and his softening cock.

Ianto forced his eyes up to meet Jack's darkened lust-filled eyes, let out a strangled whimper, and rushed back into the lavatory. Jack stretched languidly across the bed and called out to him in the hoarse tones his voice acquired after strenuous sexual activity, "You could have taken care of that out here. I wouldn't have minded watching."

"Wanker," Ianto called back.

"So says the man wanking," Jack teased.

Ianto chose not to reply so Jack closed his eyes and listened to the hushed moans Ianto was making behind the door as he took care of the pressing issue caused by seeing Jack take care of his pressing issue. Jack smiled to himself as he heard Ianto let out a particularly loud cry that signified his release. A few moments later Ianto reappeared and began dressing without looking over towards Jack, "Do you have anything to wear?"

"Everything is back on the ship," Jack replied as he exited the bed with the fluid grace of a predatory jungle cat.

"I'll go have a look in the Wardrobe to see if there is anything suitable to go with your coat. We'll have to stop at a launderette to get the coat cleaned. It looks like it's been through a battering since I last took it to one." Ianto rambled absentmindedly as he buttoned up his vest.

Jack took one of Ianto's suit jackets off a hanger and helped him slide his arms into the sleeves. He brushed his hand over the shoulder, making sure that the collar was flat, and then took control over tying Ianto's tie, "I'm glad to see that you still look good in a suit."

Ianto rolled his eyes and pressed a quick kiss to Jack's cheek, "I'm glad to see you still have that RAF coat that I love."

A fresh pair of boxers, a size to small for Jack, was shoved into his hands. Jack slid them on slowly, teasing Ianto, and the thin white material stretched tightly over his package. Ianto reluctantly tore his eyes away and gathered Jack's coat in his arms. Jack followed the younger man out of the room and towards the Doctor's wardrobe, "So did you make the comment about the TARDIS when you first entered it?"

"What comment?" Ianto asked distractedly as he opened yet another wrong door.

"About it being bigger on the inside," Jack explained.

Ianto shot him an incredulous look, "Obviously it is bigger on the inside: why would I feel the need to comment upon it."

Jack laughed, "What did you say?"

Ianto thought about it for a moment, "I believe that I said: 'oh, good, it has a coat rack'."

Jack gave Ianto an incredulous look, not sure whether or not to believe him. Ianto smiled innocently and began to sift through the large number of clothing racks in attempt to find Jack something suitable to wear. John burst into the room, as Ianto was helping Jack button up a shirt, followed shortly by an irate Doctor. John dove behind the pair ordering imperiously: "Shield me!"

"I want him out!" The Doctor roared.

"I'll go put the coffee on," Ianto decided as he attempted to leave the room, "Let you lot sort this mess out."

"You're not going anywhere," Jack refuted, pulling Ianto back towards him, "Doctor, what happened?"

"Go on. Tell them what I did Doctor," John smirked as he annunciated clearly each syllable of the word 'Doctor' and waggled his eyebrows enticingly. The Doctor blushed and made a hasty retreat muttering some excuse or another. John stretched casually and stated cockily: "He so wants me."

"I don't want to know." Ianto stated decisively. He turned back to the stacks of clothing and after checking the size of a pair of tight jeans he tossed it over to John.

John exclaimed in surprise after sliding on the denims, "Perfect!"

"My Father was a master tailor," Ianto told him as he continued to shuffle through an array of shirts, "I seem to have inherited the family eye."

The smile that had been present on Jack's face all morning suddenly disappeared, "Ianto. Rhiannon told Gwen that your Father worked at Debenhams and the tailor story is just that: a story."

Ianto's open smiling face closed down immediately, "Well, we now know that he wasn't really my Father anyways. I think I will go put on some coffee after all."

Jack watched Ianto leave. He sighed loudly and ran a hand through his artfully teased tresses. He turned to face a laughing John and sneered, "Button up your trousers."

John smirked and slid the jeans lower on his hips, "Now, that was an interesting scene. Seems Eye-Candy has secrets of his own. Maybe I was wrong about who is domesticating whom."

"He's insufferable," Jack tried to explain, "He lectures me about keeping secrets with one breath and in the next he's protecting his own secrets: First he keeps a half-converted cyber man in my basement along with the remnants of a cyber conversion unit, then he's lying about his Father. Then, to top it all off I find out that he's actually a Time Lord. What other secrets is he hiding from me?"

"Well, seeing as he didn't know he was a Time Lord I don't think that you can really blame him for telling you that one," John replied lightly. Then he exhaled and shot a sympathetic look towards Jack, "I spent some time in the 21st century on Earth. Looking around, shagging my way through the population, and watching a lot of bloody television. If there's one thing that I learned from watching daytime soaps it's that you should always chase after people."

"I do love the running." Jack grinned. Ianto was puttering around the kitchen when Jack entered. The Doctor was sitting happily at the table with a cup of steaming coffee and a plate of warm scones.

"Hello Jack," The Doctor said through a mouthful of scone, he seemed to have recovered from his earlier embarrassment once he had some coffee pumping through his veins, "Ianto was just asking me if I could help explain the whole coffee boy suddenly turned Time Lord situation to you."

Jack accepted a mug from a sheepish Ianto and plopped himself down in a chair next to The Doctor, "Did he now?"

"It's all a bit complicated," Ianto said, taking a seat as well, "We don't really know very much."

The Doctor nodded, "We do know that Ianto was only a baby when he was left on Earth: First generation with no inkling of life before he was left there."

"Taking that into consideration we believe that my parents probably brought me to the 21st century as a human child to protect me from the Time War. Then I was adopted by Rhiannon's parents and they became my family," Ianto spoke up.

"What about your Fob watch? I would have seen it if you'd had one."

Ianto pulled out his stopwatch, "Always at the ready."

"It seems to be an altered Fob watch, with a secret compartment that releases the genetic coding. Presumably his parents wanted a better disguise than a watch that would never open. A working stopwatch with a simple explanation such as: it once belonged to his Grandfather, would account for Ianto carrying it around constantly." The Doctor explained.

"Okay, but I saw your dead body. How did you survive? Without the TARDIS you wouldn't have been able to regenerate and even if there was some sort of delayed regeneration you shouldn't look like yourself." Jack commented.

"This is where things get complicated," Ianto sighed, "It was luck I suppose. The Time Lord part of me that was buried underneath the human seeming resisted the virus. So though it suppressed the human life form, and I appeared dead, it was still fighting off the remaining strains of Time Lord. So when the Doctor showed up he opened my stopwatch and then once I had my second heart I was able to completely fight off the virus."

Ianto looked to the Doctor for approval of his explanation. The Doctor nodded and Jack frowned, "So you're still you then? It's not like when the Master used his Fob watch he became a sweet old man? You're still Ianto?"

"Since his memories of being Ianto are the only life he's known, Ianto is who he is and who he always has been." The Doctor told Jack.

"Which is why I don't need a Time Lord name," Ianto winked at The Doctor. He explained to Jack, "That's what we were talking about earlier when he called me 'part time shag'. I told him the only titles I had are that and 'Coffee Boy'. Neither of which are very dignified. Plus I can't go by a name given to me by Owen of all people"

"I believe 'Blip in Time' was also on the table," The Doctor laughed.

Ianto frowned, "That name was my fault."

"I believe I told you that you would never be just a blip in time Ianto Jones." Jack insisted.

Ianto groaned, "That conversation really needs to stop coming up. That's twice in one day now."

"Does any of this connect with the man you thought was your Father?" Jack asked, determined to reach the bottom of his earlier issue.

Ianto shot a frantic glance over at the Doctor and then looked back at Jack. His voice was calm and serious when he said: "Not so much, but it does explain a few things. I promise I will explain it all to you, but perhaps it should wait until tonight. I'd like to tell you alone."

Jack nodded reluctantly, "Alright, but no sex until you tell me what happened."

The Doctor and Ianto both laughed uproariously at that comment. Ianto managed to gasp out during their laughing fit, "Sorry…the idea of you…withholding sex…is just…so ridiculous…"

"What are you laughing about?" John asked petulantly, poking his head in the door.

"Jack just threatened to withhold sex from Ianto," The Doctor laughed. John immediately joined in the laughter despite protests of Jack. After awhile the joke finally stopped being as funny and the hilarity died and they were able to discuss the next phase of their journey.

"I think we should go to Felspoon. It supposedly has mountains that sway in the breeze," The Doctor suggested with a soft smile.

A/N: Sorry for the brief mix up of chapter two getting switched to chapter four. It should be back into place now. Thanks so much for reviewing and adding the story to your watch lists! I still haven't decided if I want Jack and Ianto back at Torchwood or with the Doctor for longer: let me know if y'all have any opinions about it.


	6. Trying it Out

"We got trapped by a giant marshmallow," John deadpanned.

Jack laughed, "Felspoon. Who would have guessed it was controlled by giant marshmallow-like creatures who hate humans?"

"We're not from this century: you'd think that we wouldn't count," John groaned loudly

Jack rolled his eyes in a manner that he had copied directly from Ianto, "We'll just have to wait for the Doctor and Ianto. Being companions to The Doctor seems to be cause for running into trouble."

John collapsed casually onto the hard floor of the tiny cell they were currently occupying: "Well I think that my stomach is trying to eat itself. They better be doing everything possible to get us out of here quickly."

"I can't imagine why they wouldn't be utilizing every possible resource to rescue us as soon as they possibly can."

"My Lordships, do you desire more wine?"

The Doctor grinned wildly at the bowing Felspoonian, "I think-ith that I would enjoy-ith some more wine. Forsooth!"

Ianto screwed up his face in amusement and drank deep his goblet as he looked at the drunken Time Lord next to him, "You've knocked your crown sideways."

"Crown?" The Doctor asked, confused, "When did I get a crown."

"I believe," Ianto seemed to think that annunciating his words would make him sound more sober, but instead it just drew attention to his drawn out Welsh vowels, "We were presented with crowns at approximately the time of your third forsooth."

"Ah! Well good think that we Time-Lords have extremely fast metabolisms, because I believe that we had other people with us at an earlier part in our journey," The Doctor nodded knowingly several times in a row which caused his crown to topple off.

Ianto joined the Doctor in nodding and then promptly fell asleep. Another Felspoonian arrived and offered, "Banana, your majesty?"

The Doctor accepted the fruit with a flourish and began cheerily recounting a previous adventure to Ianto, "I like bananas. There's now a banana grove over the remains of the weapons factory of Villengard: Destroyed that factory I did. More wine?"

Ianto chose this moment as an opportunity to wake up, "I could murder a coffee."

The Doctor pondered his previous statement for a moment, "I told somebody else about the banana grove recently."

Ianto blearily smiled half-heartedly at The Doctor, "As fascinating as banana groves may be Doctor, let's just go back to the TARDIS. All I want right now is a spot of coffee and a cuddle with Jack."

"Jack!" The Doctor exclaimed, the effects of the alcohol fading quickly, "That's who I told."

"Speaking of Jack: what happened to him?"Ianto asked.

"No idea," The Doctor replied merrily, "I'm sure that he'll turn up eventually. Coffee sounds brilliant. TARDIS it is: Where did we leave it?"

"Next to a fountain," Ianto replied, "Shouldn't we go save Jack? I vaguely recall him and John getting arrested."

"We can't just wait for him to show up?" The Doctor asked hopefully. Ianto shook his head causing the Doctor to sigh, "It's terribly hard to be concerned about someone who can't die."

"John's with him and he can't die," Ianto pointed out.

"It's terrible hard to be concerned about John."

Ianto laughed, which forced him to clutch his head in pain, "I need an aspirin."

"That's the last thing you need," The Doctor replied seriously, "Time Lords are allergic."

"Bugger," Ianto swore.

"Exactly," The Doctor replied, "So how about you go start a brew of your industrial strength coffee and I will get Jack. This race seems to worship us, how hard could it be to convince them to release a few prisoners."

Ianto's fuzzy mind was telling him that the Doctor probably jinxed his efforts, and the logical part of his brain decided that though the Doctor could probably handle the situation he had just caused, Ianto would be much safer in the TARDIS. Usually Ianto's heart would protest against saving his own skin and going after Jack, after all that's how he died in the first place: by risking his life to support Jack, but for some reason he listened. Trusting the Doctor, Ianto had come to realize, was easy.

Never had Ianto trusted someone in this way. As he stumbled back to the TARDIS he tried to place the feelings that the Doctor provoked in him. A sense of belonging, admiration, and fear were all feelings that he could decipher and attribute to The Doctor. He could also discern what he thought resembled the relationship between Tosh and Jack.

"Father," Ianto tested the word once he had reached the safety of the TARDIS. It echoed through the control room hollowly. He had a Father on Earth, for lack of a better word, but like he told his sister (he had decided that they had been through enough together to still refer to Rhiannon as such) that Father always pushed him too hard, too fast. As such, Ianto never could comprehend the love between a Father and son. He would go up to the plass some days, sit on cold stone steps, and watch as young boys ate candy floss as their fathers carried footballs after a day at the park. He tried another word, "Dad."

Ianto gave a sigh and wandered down to the kitchen. The recent acquisition of: a new species, a deceased family he had never met, and Doctor who could very well fill the space in his heart he thought he didn't need to fill, were all a bit too much for his alcohol induced synapses to handle at present. So, Ianto made coffee, de-scaled the tea kettle, and washed the mugs. The slam of the TARDIS door jerked him out of the calmness granted by routines and he carried the mugs up to the control room.

The Doctor, Jack, and John had collapsed in a laughing exhausted heap just inside the doorway. Ianto noted calmly that the two long coats of Jack and the Doctor were slightly on fire. He gave a sigh and set the tray down so he could toss them the fire blanket.

"That's why I wear short coats," John snorted, tugging on his jacket lapels as he watched the other two attempted to put out the flame, "Much more practical."

"Yes, but you look like Sergeant Pepper," Ianto quipped.

John sneered, "You will not be teasing once you get their dry cleaning bill."

Ianto grinned at John before turning to the Doctor, "So tell me, how you managed to cock that one up? They were giving us whatever we wanted."

"Turns out, they weren't worshiping us. They were preparing to eat us," The Doctor laughed with a shrug as he hopped to his feet, "Easy mistake to make. Their words for fatten and king are pretty close to the same."

"They are not," Jack inserted, "He was just drunk."

"Time Lord metabolism my arse." Ianto rolled his eyes.

"Is that an invitation to cop a feel?" Jack asked, doing just that as he made his way towards his steaming cup of coffee.

"Don't mind if I do," John piped up trying to copy Jack. However, a glare from Jack had him veering away from the temptation of Ianto's arse in a suit. John picked up his mug with a pout, "You take all of the fun out of life."

Ianto helped Jack out of his coat and hung it up on the rack by the door: a glance at the Doctor had him hanging up his coat as well. Ianto nodded happily at the Doctor and then proceeded to look crossly at John until he hung his coat neatly next to the others.

John grumbled angrily as he stalked back to his cup of coffee. Jack caught the slight maniacal smirk on Ianto's face and warned, "I wouldn't drink that if I were you. You're still on punishment from dropping your coat yesterday which means –"

John spat out the giant mouthful he had just swallowed to spite Jack all over the floor of the TARDIS. Ianto finished Jack's statement with relish: "Instant coffee."

John furrowed his eyebrows in anger and confusion, "Wasn't that thing with the coat this morning punishment enough?"

"Punishment," The Doctor snorted, "You enjoyed that, a little too much I think."

Ianto and Jack turned in shock to stare at the Doctor curiously. After a moment Ianto spoke decisively, "I still don't want to know."

"Did you intend John's punishment to be enjoyable?" Jack asked hopefully, "I caught my coat on fire I think that deserves a spanking at least. You could even use a whip."

Ianto shoved Jack causing him to stumble and slop steaming coffee over the side of his mug. Jack started to protest, but the sight of the corners of Ianto's eyes wrinkled up in laughter caused the protest to stick halfway up Jack's throat. Ianto noticed the abrupt change and his open look of hilarity was gone in a moment too. John interrupted their brooding looks: "Butler boy. There's coffee all over the floor. Get on it."

The Doctor laughed loudly, "Ianto Jones is second in command on the TARDIS and seeing how Jack has a key – where do you think that ranks you John?"

John's shoulders dropped, "I didn't sign on to clean up all of your shit."

"Nobody asked you to stay," was the Doctor's cheeky reply.

"I think the Doctor is humoring him," Jack stage-whispered to Ianto, "He never humored me and I was much more likable than John. I was so likeable that if we were all on the telly I would have had my own spin-off show. John would never get his own spin off show."

"A spin-off show about you and Torchwood?" Ianto asked incredulously, "Sounds rubbish. Now, King Ianto and the Coffee beans: the rise of a King sounds like a hit documentary."

"Hit documentary," John snorted, "Two words that have never been uttered together in a sentence before now."

"You'll go after Owen in my new regime," Ianto stated imperiously. Then he froze, "Well I guess that means you'll go first."

John groaned, "I should have known the laughs couldn't have lasted long with you lot. Back to moaning and groaning: Debbie downers."

Jack laughed, "How much time did you spend in America?"

John ignored them and stalked off to his sleeping quarters calling behind him: "Wake me when we get somewhere new."

"Speaking of somewhere new: Can we visit a place that doesn't turn quite as quickly? I still get vertigo when my head is facing down into space." Ianto wrinkled his nose, "A few less people too. The smell of roses is giving me a headache."

Jack sniffed the air: "Roses? I don't smell roses."

"Time Lord thing," The Doctor explained insufficiently. He then turned and winked at the one person in the universe who knew exactly what he meant at that moment. The one person who knew exactly what he felt at that moment and for once the Doctor didn't feel so alone.


	7. Propositions

A/N: So thanks so much to DarqueQueen7 who pointed out to me that when I replaced Chapter Two with a version in which I changed a slight mistake I accidentally replaced it with chapter three. So, if you remember reading the same chapter twice than you can go back and read the real second chapter now. Thanks!

"Can I feel it?"

"Are you propositioning me underneath an ice cap?" Ianto asked in disbelief. They were currently wrapped in a blanket underneath a huge outcropping of a frozen wave: their backs resting in the curve of the trough of the wave.

Jack laughed, "That sounds like me, but no. The turn of the planets: you made it seem like you could feel them."

Ianto tilted his head up to meet Jack's eyes. He flipped his over so he was lying on top of Jack: their bodies aligned and touching from toe to forehead. Their lips were a scant breath apart and brushed against each other as Ianto spoke, "I think so. Take a deep breath."

Ianto pressed his lips firmly against Jack's and as they kissed he focused his psychic link on Jack allowing him to feel the quick horizontal spin of the planet: the turn of the tiny rock beneath their twined bodies as it spun at a billion kilometers per hour beneath their feet surrounded by the emptiness of space. Jack gasped against Ianto's mouth as the vertigo hit, but kept his fingers linked with Ianto's as the world whirled with them.

"It's incredible," Jack breathed against Ianto's hot mouth. He could feel the suffering of the Time War echoed through him. Despite all that pain, Jack could feel himself getting hard. The overwhelming need to ground them to the planet filled Jack's being to the core. He slid a leg between Ianto's and began rutting up against him. There would be a time for beds and slow tantric sex, but this wasn't about that. They set a frantic pace: cocks pressing together through layers of clothing. Hands quickly shoved into trousers.

Ianto cupped Jack's balls roughly inside his pants but kept one hand linked in his own, pinned above Jack's head. Jack's other hand slid down the back of Ianto's trousers: squeezing and molding his firm pert arse with his big hand. Ianto moaned wantonly as Jack slid a finger against his flexing sphincter. He managed to slide his hand around to give Jack a return squeeze to his engorged prick.

"It's too much," Jack whimpered as he pressed hot open mouthed kisses to the hollow of Ianto's throat. He could feel Ianto's twin hearts beating beneath through their clothes.

Ianto rubbed the palm of his hand linked with Jack's and managed to gasp out, "Do you want me to let go?"

"Don't you dare," Jack replied with a moan as Ianto nipped at his jaw line teasingly. He arched his back, the motion causing his dick to rub harder against Ianto's warm calloused hand. Jack squeezed Ianto's hand tightly as he felt his release build. Their hands moved out of trousers and rubbed against sweaty backs. They undulated against each other in a fast paced frenzy.

"Oh, God, Fuck." Jack shouted and moaned and sighed.

"No time," Ianto ground out, lifting and rolling his hips just so against Jacks. Their lips met again in a clash of teeth and tongue. This wasn't fucking and it wasn't making love, but it was exactly what they needed.

Their hoarse voices reached a screaming crescendo as they released at exactly the same time: neither caring at that moment that they were coating the inside of their trousers with warm white sticky fluid. Jack gasped and released Ianto's hand as he came hard. He fell back to Earth slowly, and the world began to fall back into place with them.

Moments past while they lay twined together in a sticky puddle of sweaty limbs and soaked pants. Jack's breathing slowed and he began pressing kisses against Ianto's cheek, "You're brilliant."

Ianto laughed breathlessly, "Yes, now that I'm a Time Lord, I'm suddenly interesting."

Jack pressed his lips to Ianto's reddened nose, "You were always interesting. It's just a new sort of interesting."

Ianto rolled his eyes and pulled Jack closer to him, "Yes. The life of a Welsh archivist is fascinating stuff. I should write an autobiography."

Jack rolled onto his side and pulled Ianto into the curve of his body and flinging his arm protectively against his abdomen. He buried his nose in the younger man's hair and pulled the heavy blanket tightly around them muttering: "Wake me up when we have to move."

Ianto scooted back a bit closer to Jack, fitting his arse right up against Jack's spent cock. His eyes fluttered closed and the comfort of Jack's warm form behind him sent him straight into a peaceful doze. They had other things to discuss before things could go back to normal, but for now they were both content to nap in each other's arms after experiencing joint mind-blowing orgasms.

They were woken by the sun shining off the peaks of ice and glaring into their eyes. Jack chuckled as he awoke, his shaking ribs waking Ianto, "Slept a bit later than we intended I see."

Ianto squeezed his eyes shut tightly and rolled over so he was facing Jack. He burrowed his head in Jack's chest to block out the sun, muttering against his shirt, "Sun sets and rises four times per earth day so it hasn't really been that long. More sleep."

Jack kissed the top of Ianto's head: "You don't even need sleep and the Doctor will be along shortly to get us."

"Sleep helps me acclimate," Ianto replied sleepily, "Doctor said so himself."

Jack rubbed the hair at the nape of Ianto's neck between the pads of his fingers, "I'm fine to stay here for awhile, but I have one requirement."

Ianto groaned and rubbed his head against Jack's hand, "I'm probably going to regret this but ask your questions: just don't stop doing that."

"Your father," Jack stated plainly, "Why did you lie?"

Ianto wrapped his leg around Jack's leg as he quietly started to explain, "I don't know where to begin, because I don't really understand where the beginning is anymore. So, I guess I will start by saying that you weren't the only one I lied to about my Father. The master tailor story was created by Rhiannon and me when we were young.

Our Father was an alcoholic and when he drank he got angry and when he got angry he took it out on me. He was out of work more often than he was working which meant I had to get it for him. I had two jobs but those paychecks weren't enough to satisfy his addiction. I had to steal: that's where the 'minor conviction for shoplifting in my teens' came from.

Rhiannon did what she could to protect me and to keep us together as a family. So we lied, because that's what it took. Sometimes she couldn't protect me and I would end up with a broken arm or I would end up naked in the snow for a few hours. Sometimes when he hit me he would tell me I wasn't his son. I wanted more than anything to find out that this statement was true. I used to lie in my bed at night and pray to a God I didn't think existed for a way out.

Then he died and I ran away as fast as I could and I didn't look back until Canary Warf. It was easy enough to continue that lie Rhiannon and I created all those years ago, because nobody ever asks. If you throw out a few comments here and there, create the appearance of an open book, nobody will ask more because they think they know the whole story."

By the end of Ianto's recitation his voice was cracking and silent tears were pouring down his face. Jack kept stroking the nape of Ianto's neck as he slowly began to kiss away his tears, "Ianto."

Jack was crying too. They huddled together, clinging to that sense of belonging they had achieved at the peak of their orgasms and Jack told him about the year that never was. They swapped abuse/torture stories: fully aware of how morbid it was to do so. They talked until the sun had risen and set two more times: cocooned in their own ice bubble.

"We keep having all of these emotionally charged and draining conversations," Ianto said as they made their way back to the TARDIS, "But we have yet to discuss the future. What is going to happen to Torchwood?"

Jack shrugged noncommittally, "Gwen did fine in my absence before. I see no reason for this time to be any different."

"Last time she wasn't pregnant and she had me to keep the HUB running. I'm the only one other than you who knew all of the standard protocols and pass codes and secrets such as Flat Holm.

"Well know there's no HUB so we don't have to worry about it falling apart without you," Jack replied brightly.

"Jack," Ianto warned.

The aforementioned Jack let out a huffy breath: "Look, we both know that you have to stay with the Doctor for awhile and I know that there is no way in any hell dimension that I would go back to Torchwood without you. Besides we can wait a thousand years in our timelines and still pop back to see Gwen the day after I took off."

Ianto frowned, "We could wait a thousand years, but you wouldn't overcome the guilt until you went back and you would come to resent me for it."

"I would never – "Jack started to protest, but a knowing look from Ianto caused him to stop. Instead his face grew hard and he said firmly: "I'm not leaving you."

A weak smile greeted him: "Maybe we could convince the Doctor to come with us for awhile."

"He doesn't like being tied down," Jack replied.

"He loves the running though. There's lots of running with Torchwood. I make sure of it because your coat looks amazing when you're running." Ianto smirked, his eyes slanting sideways to check the expression on Jack's face.

Jack rolled his eyes and asked: "Just the coat?"

Ianto shrugged and laughed at Jack, "Maybe you too."

Jack grinned smugly and pulled open the door to the TARDIS, "Maybe we can convince him to stay for awhile. He's saved the world so many times and he never stays for very long. He should see what he's saving. Maybe he could buy a house with a little yard: the Doctor loves houses and yards."

"Not in the way you love offices I presume."

Jack looked thoughtful, "Well maybe…"

"Well," considered Ianto, "At least having a house kink wouldn't end with me getting my left arse cheek punctured by ten staples."

Jack chuckled, "You would have only had one staple if you had told me, but instead of stopping you just kept yelling harder. I think we can safely assume that was your fault."

"It was your fault we were even near a stapler. I told you plainly that your office kink was not to be permitted on our date."

"True," Jack permitted. His eyes went glassy in remembrance and his cock twitched against his still damp pants. After a moment he jerked towards Ianto with a look of tremendous concern as he asked: "Do you think that photocopy of your butt survived the HUB explosion?"


	8. Arriving

The TARDIS came to a whirring stop. Ianto immediately opened the door and ran out onto the Plass. He inhaled the slightly salty air and smiled brightly, "Home."

"You know that you're not technically a Welshman, right?" The Doctor pointed out as he joined him in the slightly fresh air.

"Oi!" Ianto growled, glaring at the Doctor, "Yes I am."

Jack laughed and grabbed Ianto's hand briefly, "Listen to those beautiful Welsh vowels Doctor. How could you believe any less?"

John stepped out languidly and asked with a bored twinge in his voice, "Where exactly are we supposed to go? I thought you said the HUB was destroyed."

Jack laughed, "You don't think I left without taking care of things did you? I set up all the plans for the reconstruction of the HUB before I left. Therefore, everything should be exactly where we left it."

Ianto inserted lightly, "Perhaps it would be privy to know when it is."

They all looked at the Doctor expectantly, but he laughed and looked at Ianto, "Well then, go ahead. You're a Time Lord, smell the air: figure it out."

"We've been practicing for months," Ianto pointed out, "And I've never been right. I was merely hoping to expedite the process by having you tell us."

"You've spent a lot of your life on earth: it should be easier."

Ianto dutifully and delicately sniffed the salty air, "It's 21st century for sure. I would place it at about…eight months after I was here last."

The Doctor smiled at him proudly, "Seven months actually, but very well done. We're one month after Jack left."

"As fun as this is," John inserted sarcastically as he began to walk towards the water feature in front of the millennium center, "Can we do something other than stand around and watch eye-candy sniff the air."

Jack called after him, "That's the visitor's entrance. Maybe we should be a bit more flash and go in over by the Quay."

"You want to make less of a statement?" Ianto asked doubtfully.

Jack grinned and winked, "What can I say? I'm growing up."

They made their way over to the Tourist office, which had undergone little damage due to the protection of the giant metal hub door. They opened the door to find Rhys lounging behind the desk with his feet propped up on top of it. He looked at the four men, two in old fashioned military dress and two in suits, and sighed loudly.

"Gwen," Rhys said, tapping his ear com deftly, "I quit."

The four time travelers standing in front of the tourist office desk gaped at him as he dropped the chattering ear com onto the desk, picked up his coat, and left through the front without saying another word. Confusion was etched into the faces of the men as they looked around at each other: their confusion only increased by the sudden reappearance of Rhys.

"Glad to have you back mate," Rhys said stiffly gripping Ianto in a tight embrace. Ianto released a squawk of discomfort as he was squeezed tightly by the larger man. Jack laughed at the wide eyes of Ianto that were just visible above Rhys' shoulder. After a few moments Rhys released him and shook his head in wonderment, "Bloody fucking Torchwood."

He then exited again before any of the men could voice their confusion. Ianto straightened his suit jacket and said, "That was odd."

"Forget the hug," Jack frowned, "What idiot gave Rhys a job at Torchwood?"

"Who gave him my job?" Ianto asked, starring mournfully at the littering of rubbish strewn about the tourist office, "You would think if they went through obvious effort to make the Hub exactly the same that they could at least keep it clean."

Jack laughed, "You saw what the Hub was like before you arrived, not to mention the TARDIS. I don't know why you would expect any less."

"Hey!" The Doctor interrupted, clearly affronted, "I kept the TARDIS very neat."

"Sure you did," Ianto reassured him as he picked up a half-full coffee cup from the desk. He frowned at the water ring left behind by condensation, wondering for the umpteenth time why it was such an inconvenience for people to use a coaster, and sniffed the liquid delicately. Immediately he scrunched up his nose and moaned in despair: "Instant."

"You can't really blame them," The Doctor laughed, "We stole their coffee machine."

Jack looked at the Doctor like he wasn't quite sure he was there, "I still can't believe that we convinced you to come."

The Doctor smiled softly as he watched Ianto begin to absentmindedly tidy the area: throwing out rubbish and straitening brochures. The Doctor waited until he disappeared behind the beaded curtain that lead to the back room before replying to Jack: "You heard what I said to the Master. If I was willing to spend eternity watching over him then of course I would look after Ianto. Maybe it's time I have someone of my own to care for."

"As long as you don't care for him the same way I do," Jack warned playfully, but with a hint of seriousness in the depths of his eyes.

The Doctor laughed and teased, "Are you afraid of a challenge Jack?"

Jack opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by the opening of the 'secret' door that connected the cover business from the HUB and the appearance of four figures with guns drawn.

"Martha Jones!" The Doctor exclaimed cheerfully upon recognizing his former companion.

The aforementioned Martha smiled and began to lower her gun, but was ordered by the gap-toothed woman in front: "Hold formation."

"Not exactly the reception I hoped for," Jack smiled ruefully at The Doctor and John.

"You left us again Jack," Gwen ground out, not lowering her gun a fraction.

"You hired Andy," Jack retorted petulantly, nodding his head at the one male in the group of gun toting individuals, "And Rhys."

Gwen glared at him, "My employment practices are not for question Jack."

"I quite like Andy," John piped up with a feral grin, "I told you that you needed a blond."

"I'm hurt that you'd move on so soon," The Doctor inserted in monotone.

John turned to him, "I wasn't moving on. I was about to suggest an orgy."

"Jack - What is he doing here?" Gwen asked furiously, "He tried to kill me."

"I'm joining team Excalibur," John smirked at her and waggled his eyebrows.

"How do I even know if you're really Jack," Gwen decided to change her tactic abruptly.

"You could always shoot him," A dry Welsh voice sounded from the back room, "If he's Jack: he'll live. If he isn't Jack…well then you don't have a problem anymore."

Gwen's gun clattered to the floor, "Ianto?"

He stepped out from behind the curtain and smiled carefully, "Hello Gwen, Martha, Andy, oh, and Lois: almost didn't see you there."

"You're dead," Gwen whispered.

"That didn't stop Owen from walking about," Ianto joked. Only Jack laughed.

Gwen shook her head in attempt to clear her thoughts: "The gloves were destroyed."

"It's not the gloves or any other part of a suit of medieval armor," Ianto explained, "I never actually died."

"I saw your dead body."

Ianto sighed, "Gwen, this is Torchwood: weirder things have happened. Is there anything I could say or do to convince you?"

"We could recreate that time in the hothouse when you walked in on us," Jack suggested innocently, "Or he could explain the rules of naked hide and seek and we can dig up old CCTV footage to prove that he's correct."

"That's why I asked Gwen for suggestions," Ianto scowled at Jack, "Not you."

Jack shrugged, "Just trying to help."

"I for one," John added, "Am all for the execution of either suggestion as long as I get to watch."

Ianto chose to ignore him: "How about I make some coffee while we figure this out."

Gwen let out a tortured sob and rushed towards the impeccably dressed man. She gripped him in a hug that was tighter than her husband's, laughing as she cried: "It is you! How is this possible?"

He patted her back awkwardly, and could see over her head that the Doctor was currently on the receiving end of a tight embrace of his own, courtesy of one Martha Jones. He laughed as he saw John attempt to embrace Andy and Lois, who escaped behind the desk. After a long moment Gwen released him to give Jack a hug of his own (along with a slap). Ianto began to straighten his ruffled jacket, but was caught up in a hug from The Voice of a Nightingale herself.

Ianto was fixing his tie, hoping that nobody else chose to hug him, when Jack snuck up behind him and placed a quick kiss to the back of his neck, "I don't think it's fair that everyone has had their hands around you, but my hands are empty."

Ianto rolled his eyes, "You're hands were pretty full this morning."

From his position behind Ianto, Jack could feel his cock twitch as he remembered waking up around a half naked Welshman, his hand cupped around said Welshman's morning wood. He frowned against the younger man's neck and whispered into his ear, "My hands weren't the only thing that was full this morning, but you wouldn't let me do anything about it."

Ianto succumbed slightly to the temptation to lean into Jack, a motion invisible to the others, as he replied, "We were so backwards about it last time. I want to do this right which means a relationship that leads to sex: not sex that leads to a relationship."

"Then what do you call you rutting against my hard prick with your dripping swollen cock until we both reached our peaks exploded over each other?" Jack asked thickly, pressing closer so that Ianto could feel his erection pressing against his arse, but at an angle where it would appear to the others that they weren't touching, "Under what category did you file our cum-stained trousers?"

"Sharing experiences," Ianto mocked, moving away after the others who had just gone back into the Hub, "Now behave: we have a lot of ground to cover today."

Jack brought a fist up to his heart and groaned, but followed him down the passage, "You're shattering all of my hopes of rechristening Hub three!"

"Maybe you could get John to help you with that," Ianto teased with a wink.

They could hear the sound of Lois' voice ahead of them in the corridor asking: "So, have we really just acquired four incredibly handsome team members?"

"Looks that way," Andy's mournful voice sounded.

"Fantastic," She replied.

A moment later Ianto paused abruptly, causing Jack to run into him. Jack asked, "Ianto what's wrong?"

Ianto turned to him, with a large frown, "What does it say about my life that Gwen believed it was me when I offered to make some coffee?"

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A/N: I've been having a severe block with this fic and I kind of decided that nobody is reading it so I took a really long time writing this chapter. So if you are reading it, let me know, so I don't just stop writing it.


	9. Epilogue

The boardroom hadn't been built to occupy more than seven people so there were a few people left standing once everyone had shuffled inside. (John had offered to let Andy sit on his lap and so Andy was standing rigid in the corner when Jack and Ianto arrived). There was an awkward moment when Gwen, Jack, and The Doctor all tried to begin the meeting at the same time.

Gwen stood up and sighed at the two long-lived men, "How long are you back for Jack."

He smiled brightly at her, "I'm back for good."

"For good or until the next time Ianto dies?" Gwen asked harshly. Immediately after the comment slipped out her eyes widened like an anime doll and she turned to Ianto and apologized: "Oh, pet. I'm so sorry. That's not what I meant."

Ianto shrugged uncomfortably and attempted to smile reassuringly at Gwen, "I understand perfectly the fear that Jack is going to leave."

Jack's blinding smile fell slightly and he surreptitiously reached over to grasp the newly instated Time Lord's hand, "I'll be here long enough to help set up Torchwood so that it can operate without me and then Ianto and I are retiring."

"We'll stay in Cardiff for a bit after that," Ianto continued explaining the plan that he and Jack had decided on. "Buy a house and settle down. Long enough that we can watch our families grow old and then when we're the odd old couple that's been around for as long as anyone can remember…"

"They'll send out an alert on Jack's vortex manipulator and I'll swing by to pick them up," The Doctor inserted the final bit of the plan.

John looked over at the Doctor in surprise, "I thought you were staying here?"

The Doctor shook his head, "Jack and Ianto are trying to make Earth self-sufficient for when I can't be around to save the day. It would be counterintuitive for me to be here while they did it."

"Well then I'm coming with you," the former time agent told him decisively. "I'm not going to stay tied to this backwater planet when you can take me to see the fifteen wonders of the Aesop Galaxy."

The Doctor shot a pleading look first to Ianto who shrugged and then to Jack who spoke up hesitantly, "You do know that if you stay with the Doctor then you'll have to help people and you might have to put your life in danger for the sake of others."

His former partner sneered at him, "You're not the only one who's allowed to turn over a new leaf. Maybe I've changed too."

Jack looked doubtful but turned to the Doctor and mouthed, "I tried."

Letting out a huge sigh the Doctor agreed, "Fine, I'll take you with me, but before we leave I have to spend some time with UNIT. They've gotten out of control in recent years."

"And then we'll go hunt down more eye-candy?"

The Doctor nodded and explained to Martha, "You've seen how often the Daleks managed to escape the Time War and now I find out that yet another Time Lord escaped as well. There could be others out there, metaphorically or literally trapped inside stopwatches and waiting for someone to open them."

After that had been decided, it didn't take long for The Doctor to make his escape with a surprisingly eager John Hart in tow, but it wasn't for a few hours that Ianto found himself sitting around Gwen's kitchen table while Jack and Rhys checked on the baby. Ianto grinned at her sleepily, "Back together again, the old team."

"If anyone were to come back, I'm glad that it was you Ianto." Gwen told him seriously. "Don't tell Jack or Tosh or Owen, but I always liked you best."

"That's alright," Ianto shut his eyes and leaned back. "I was everyone's favorite. It's something about a lethal combination of coffee and well-pressed suits."

* * *

A/N: So, I'm pretty sure that this is awful, but I wanted to give this some sort of ending rather than just stopping it, because I'm very grateful to all of you who have read and reviewed.


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